If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
"If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" is Episode 7 in Season 11. It originally aired on October 19, 1993. Synopsis The episode begins with LeVar loving the atmosphere of a bowling alley. He has come to do some bowling himself. We take a look around the alley at other people doing so and having a good time. There's something about the noise of the balls rolling down the lanes and crashing into the pins that makes you want to join in the fun. Everyone who comes there brings their own personality. The first thing in bowling is choosing the right ball to play with. After LeVar picks one that suits him the best, he gives it a good roll down the lane. Bang! He rolls a perfect strike on his first go. You roll the ball, it knocks the pins down, they are reset, the ball comes back, and you have another turn. There, it all starts (and ends) with a ball. In the title book, one cookie that you give a mouse leads to another thing that he wants. What happens when you give LeVar another try at bowling? As soon as he lets the ball roll, it goes into the gutter. He didn't want it to happen. Once you let it roll, you never know where it will go. One thing's for certain: they are made to take a pounding. LeVar show the viewers how they are done so. There's the Ebonite Bowling Ball factory in Hopkinsville, Kentucky where more are made than anywhere else in the whole world. One has two things: a hard outer shell and a heavy core which gives it its weight. Plastic molds are clipped together to make the cores, which are made from a special cement. Once they are dried, the molds are removed. Then a machine is used to remove the bump that was made onto each core. They get weighed and sorted. The outer shell is made next. The core are placed into larger molds to make the shell. A special polyester liquid covers each of the cores and gives each ball its color. After it hardens, the balls go into the grinding machine that smooths the surface and washes each one until it shines. Workers check for possible cracks or bumps on each one. They all need to perfectly round to score strikes on the lanes. They are them stamped with the name of the factory that made them. Some are even sanded to have rough surfaces for bowlers who prefer to have their ball to curve down the lane. Then they are sent to stores and bowling alleys where finger holes will be drilled. LeVar loves watching the balls crash into the pins. Sometimes the ball makes the pins explode and sometimes they nearly fall over. When you hit them just right, it looks like they are dancing. A series of balls hitting them are seen during the music of the 1812 Overture. In other games, such as dominoes, falling pieces can create a fun chain reaction. Once the dominoes start to go, there's no way to stop them. Domino artist Bob Speca shows the viewers how he displays and performs his domino art. Dominoes are small blocks of wood painted black with white dots or vice versa. Bob has some of different colors like red, blue, yellow, and green which he spray paints himself. He uses a ruler to set out the patterns and to measure the distance as he sets them up. They are placed about an inch apart from each other on straight lines and are put a little closer on the turns. When you set them up, You have to be careful not to knock them over. Once one is done so, it causes all the others to do so too. You have to reach out quickly in order to stop them from falling. Bob shows the viewers some of his favorite domino tricks like the Centipede, the Diamond Effect, and the Six Days 'Til Sunday. Toppling dominoes is a fun way for him to express himself. It's a kind of art form set in motion. Back at the bowling alley, LeVar is just down to his very last roll. If he gets a strike, he will have his best game ever. He makes the viewers brace themselves as he prepares for it. Crash! He makes those pins fly! He's made his best score ever. He may have started out slow, but now he's got the hang of it. He enjoyed it so much that he wants to start a new game. And guess what, he's right back to where he started, with a bowling ball! More views of people playing are seen during the closing credits. Review Books *The House That Jack Built *This is the Key to the Kingdom *Smart Dog Category:Season 11 Category:Episodes